I always expected that I’d spend my last summer before starting college binge-watching TV, eating pizza, and dealing with anxiety about my freshman year. Instead, I ended up exploring my recent acquaintance with the feminist movement through an internship with So She Did, an organization related to women’s empowerment. I decided to join the organization because it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a different perspective on feminism and my own ideas about empowerment. Sure enough, working there resulted in one of the best and most interesting summers of my life.
So She Did focuses on a positive and personalized understanding of feminism: it emphasizes individual improvement by showing young women how to say no, how to make a great first impression, how to conquer their fears and get what they want—lessons few women are taught growing up. So She Did’s goal is to give women the tools and confidence to succeed. And this confidence is not the kind found in magazines and ads — the one product you need to feel beautiful, that one move in bed that will get you the man you desperately need to complete you — but inner confidence that is inspired by loving yourself as you are.
So She Did not only doles out this advice, but incorporates it into their work environment as well. My boss Victoria has become not only my mentor but also my friend. Though she has heard her fair share of criticism and discouragement, she has remained positive and dedicated to her work, and her drive and determination have shown me what can happen when you truly believe in something. She has been generous, understanding, and open with me from the start. I used to think I was too young to be taken seriously in a professional context, but Victoria had more faith in me than I did, giving me real responsibilities for which I am immensely grateful.
I am starting at Barnard College in New York City this fall. It is the biggest change in my life I have yet to encounter and I don’t think I would feel as prepared for it if I hadn’t worked with an amazing woman at an organization with such an empowering message. I now trust my voice and myself more than I ever have. I have Victoria and So She Did to thank for that, and for helping me turn my anxiety about the future into excitement and enthusiasm.